THE FLATS – Thaddeus Young has signed his contract with Phoenix and is expected to be in uniform for the Suns Thursday night … Suns looking for lift from Josh Okogie in the second half … Moses Wright was key pickup for Olympiacos in their Greek Cup title run … more in this week’s #ProJackets Report.
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YOUNG EXPECTED TO BE AVAILABLE THURSDAY FOR SUNS
The Phoenix Suns have signed Thaddeus Young and expect the 35-year-old veteran forward to be with them for Thursday’s game at the Dallas Mavericks coming out of the NBA All-Star break.
The team announced the signing Tuesday after The Arizona Republic reported earlier in the day that sources said the Suns were prepared to bring on board.
“Thad is a highly respected veteran player who makes us a better team in our pursuit of winning an NBA Championship,” James Jones, Suns president of basketball operations and general manager, said in a team news release. “Thad is extremely intelligent and plays with a competitive intensity. His size and defensive abilities add versatility to our roster.”
Huge thanks to Toronto, my forever family! Grateful for the love, lessons, and memories. To my young brothers, keep striving and find your balance. Always here for you. Forever grateful to @Raptors. 🙏🏀 #Gratitude #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/WpkhTGqPtm
— THAD YOUNG (@yungsmoove21) February 19, 2024
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WHY YOUNG WILL SUCCEED WITH SUNS
Young has been through a variety of different teams during his career and provides Phoenix with depth in the front court and a veteran leadership presence to a Suns team that is looking towards making a push towards a championship.
Phoenix has had issues with their front court depth, needing a big man to consistently back up Kevin Durant in the power forward position.
Young fills this role nicely, providing a great presence off the bench. Young is a reasonable passer from the forward position, able to either finish the pick and roll at the rim or pass the ball out to a shooter to hit a shot from deep. Although he does not average a lot of assists, he can be an effective playmaker.
As mentioned, he works well around the rim and is boasting a career high percentage at the field. Young is shooting just over 62% from the field this season, proving that although he does not play a lot of minutes or take a lot of shots, that he is efficient with the opportunities he is given.
Players with 12.1+ PPG, 5.2+ RPG, 1.3+ SPG, 50.1+ FG%, 30.2+ 3P% all-time:
— Magic Johnson
— LeBron James
— Thaddeus YoungThe Suns got their guy. pic.twitter.com/ERbUzvWYm8
— StatMuse (@statmuse) February 13, 2024
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SUNS LOOKING FOR BETTER SECOND HALF FOR OKOGIE
Josh Okogie was one of the few holdovers from last season brought back this year, and in the early goings it was easy to see why.
He has a relationship with Booker – he appears to be the only player who also wears Booker’s newly released signature shoe – and defensively he still brings it on most nights. But the starting five is just better with Grayson Allen and Jusuf Nurkic in it, and his starts have dwindled as the season has progressed. In 49 games played so far, Okogie has started just 11 times.
His minutes are down slightly on last season (17.6 compared to 18.8 a night), and the 28.9 percent he is shooting from deep have hurt his cause as well. In 2022-23, Okogie managed a just about adequate 33.5 percent from 3-point range on 2.7 attempts per game. This season he’s taking a shot less and putting up worse numbers, which is never going to help his cause.
Okogie’s situation is a little bit different because he could still have a job with the Suns beyond this season. But whereas he was a top six or seven guy at the start of this season, at this point he is in danger of slipping out of the second unit altogether. Okogie is an unrestricted free agent this summer and is still only 25 – so even if it doesn’t work out in Phoenix – he’ll resurface elsewhere.
🚨 JOSH OKOGIE WITH THE POSTER 🚨 pic.twitter.com/RnxPkSUAXV
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) January 12, 2024
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WRIGHT HELPS OLYMPIACOS WIN GREEK CUP
Moses Wright was one of the mid-season additions for Olympiacos Piraeus, alongside Naz Mitrou-Long, and has had a tremendous impact on the team.
A veteran of the team, Giannoulis Larentzakis, has apparently developed a special relationship with the American big man which he revealed in remarks to SPORT24.
“He’s been what we’ve been missing. He’s got athleticism, and can offer something different to Moustapha Fall and Nikola Milutinov,” explained the Greek guard about why the center has so far been a good addition to the team.
“He’s a great kid. I’ve got him close so he can get into the team as quickly as possible,” Larentzakis also said, hinting at the fact that he took Wright, aged 25, under his wings.
When asked what he taught the newcomer, Larentzakis gave a playful answer.
“I can’t tell you these things. They are secrets,” the Greek guard said with a laugh. “I think he is showing them on the floor little by little.”
In just three games, Wright has averaged 9 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks for a total of 13.3 PIR per game.
Olympiacos once again emerged victorious in the Greek Cup finals, which were held in the largest city of Crete for the third consecutive time.
Led by coach Georgios Bartzokas, they defeated their arch-rivals, Panathinaikos Aktor, with a score of 58-69 in the final. This win secured their 12th Cup and brought them closer to Panathinaikos’ record of 20 Cups.
This victory marked the third time Olympiacos came out on top against Panathinaikos in their recent matchups. While they had lost both regular-season clashes in the Basket League, they won both finals to claim the Greek Supercup and Cup titles. They also emerged victorious in the sole EuroLeague matchup between the two teams.
Moses Wright also contributed 13 points to the team’s victory.
MOSES WRIGHT IS THE FUTURE🗣🗣 pic.twitter.com/PWPmxr1lhA
— zaf✧ (@zafeiiii) February 16, 2024
Moses Wright#OlympiacosBC pic.twitter.com/kIq05rsShU
— CornerThree (@CornerThree_) February 16, 2024
